Chris Walker is probably one of the most popular and loved Superbike riders to emerge from the UK. Having spent more than 10 years racing his heart out in BSB, WSB and GP, Chris has been an inspiration to most of the young talent to come from this country.
LB’s Foxy managed to catch up with Walker the ‘Stalker’ at World Superbikes at Brands Hatch last weekend to chat about his past, present and future.
Foxy: Hi there Chris, Thanks for taking the time out for this interview with us today…
Chris: Hey no problem...
Foxy: Right, let’s start at the beginning of your racing career. Your first road-race was at Mallory Park in 1994, have you been back to the track since they have changed it?
Chris: Actually I went back there a few weeks ago, I’ve got a Paul Smart Ducati, and Ducati had a monsters owners club track day there, and they’d got some of the Sport Classic bikes going round and one of the guys from Ducati, he asked if a fancied going round on my bike. I went there in my car, and rode one of the black Sports Classics ones they do, and got to try all but the latest new chicane, it was there, the third one, but they weren’t actually using it that day. But, I saw where it was… I mean, if they put any more bus-stops in it, they’ll put it on the Leicestershire bus route I guess… He he he…
Foxy: I know, it’s a bit of a nightmare… Laughs…
Chris: It was still great fun to ride around though… I enjoyed it…
Foxy: In 1996 you got your first ride on a Superbike with ‘Old Spice Ducati’. Why did you decide to leave half way through the season?
Chris: Mmm, there were several reasons really. When I first signed for Ducati originally in that winter, it was going to be a team ran by the importers, Hot Elm Moto Ginelli and just before the season started, he decided he wasn’t going to do it and it was taken on by privateers. They did a good job, but it wasn’t as well funded as it could have been and come half way through the year the bikes wern't going as well as they had done in the past. I wasn’t riding it exceptionally well and I got the chance to go to the GP’s and I kind of grabbed it with both hands.
Foxy: And you only did one season there?
Chris: Yeah, I just really finished that season off really there and came back… You know, Superbikes was in my blood at the time and that’s what I wanted to do so, I’d had a taste of what GP’s was all about and knew that it was something that I wanted to do in the future but I’d got a lot to learn before really going there full time.
I was really lucky to have got picked up by Rob Mack at Cadbury’s Boost Yamaha and that was it really… that's where I kind of found my feet on a Superbike and didn’t really look back.
Foxy: You have been a veteran on the circuits for just over 10 years now. Who were your hero’s back then?
Chris: Strange as it may seem, people who haven’t stopped racing that long ago. John Reynolds was always an inspiration to me, I actually used to race motocross with John before, I was only a little lad and whilst he wasn’t ten years older that me he was old enough… I mean… John’s now 40 and I’m 34, so he’s like six, seven years older than me, and when I used to work in a motorcycle shop and I used to watch the races there on a Saturday afternoon, and I actually saw him break the first sub 50 second lap around Mallory Park on his Kawasaki. I have been a fan of his for a long while, and also James Whitham.
I used to ride a road bike a lot on the street…
Foxy: You’re one of the few racers that has…
Chris: I rode all the way the Scarborough with a broken leg, with a plaster on with somebody on the back, so I could go and watch him race his Durex Suzuki round there. But of course my big hero’s back then were Kenny Roberts, Barry Sheen and Kevin Schwantz I guess.
Foxy: In 1998 you got your first ride with Kawasaki, how does it feel eight years on to be riding with them again?
Chris: Yeah, I mean it’s a big honour really, my Moto Cross years, even though I wasn’t going to be a British champion or anything, I used to fall off far too often. But I used to always race a Kawasaki Moto Cross bike, coz the shop I worked in used to sell Kawasaki’s and Ducati’s.
And so when I got my first Superbike ride with Kawasaki, it was a real big honour to kind of suddenly be inside the Kawasaki fold as such, and I rode for them for two years in 98 and 99. I finished second in the British Championship both years, one to McKenzy and one to Troy Bayliss, so it was to proper people I finished behind, you know, Troy had gone on the be world champion after that so it was great. And, when I finally got the chance to ride with them again in World Superbikes it was in 2002 and I just stayed with them for one year, unfortunately Kawasaki quit Superbikes at the end of that year and went to MotoGP, so it kind of left me with nowhere to go. I was lucky enough to be picked up by HM Plant Ducati, and than the year after that with Petronas and then back with Kawasaki.
I do like Kawasaki’s; I’ve always been a Kawasaki man. I’ve got Kawasaki road bikes, Motocross bikes; I’ve got a lot of Kawasaki stuff and now some ill fitted Italian Kawasaki clothing, which is great… It would fit you better than me! Laughs...
Foxy: You’ve had quite a frustrating time of it in BSB. You came second in the Championship so many times…
Chris: Yeah, four years on the trot…
Foxy: Never quite managing, it must have been frustrating…
Chris: Yeah, I mean the last one was the most frustrating because I had genuinely had done enough to win the championship, where as the years before, I was getting to the last couple of rounds hoping there was a chance I could win it…
Foxy: That was with Suzuki wasn’t it?
Chris: But with Suzuki in 2000, everything was right. We had the fantastic bike; it was an ex-factory Frankie Chili Suzuki that they were given direct straight from the Suzuki factory that winter, and it was like the best bike by far that I’d ever really had, and the team were by the far best I’d ever ridden for and I’d got my crew chief, who was the best guy I had ever worked with, Les Pearson with me as well, so the whole package was just right and it was great that year because Hodgson was at the top of his game, having come back from World Superbikes and was desperate to do the business, Reynolds was flying that year as well and there was always other people in there. In the end it came down to a two man fight between me and Neil, I went into Donington 21 points in the lead and realistically all I had to do was stay on the thing and ride around we qualified pole got on the rostrum in the first race with third and all I’d got to do is finish fourth in the second race. I think there was five laps to go, I was lying fourth with about a five second gap on fifth place and my engine blew…
Foxy: yeah, I know…
Chris: I’m still not over it yet, I have got the DVD, but I never watch the end of it… Laughs…
Foxy: You went to MotoGP in 2001 with ‘Shell Advanced Honda’, but left half way through the season after not getting on with the two-strokes. Are they that drastically different?
Chris: Yeah… To be honest, I didn’t ride it very well, at the end of 2000, got the chance to go to WSB with Suzuki, the team I was already with, or I got the chance to go to MotoGP. Back then it was still called 500GP, it still is and always has been the ultimate, it was a chance that I was never going to get again. It was a two year deal on what was said to be a factory Honda backed by Shell Advance and everything on paper looked fantastic but, the reality of it was that I didn’t ride the bike very well, the team weren’t a factory team at all and they didn’t have a budget really to run it and come half way through the year, I just got a phone call and they just basically told me they didn’t want to come to the races for the rest of the year…
Foxy: So, they probably did you a favour in the long run really…
Chris: Yeah… And, realistically did me a favour…
Foxy: So, you enjoyed riding for the HM Plant. Is that the favourite one you have ridden with?
Chris: My favourite every year has got to be with my Suzuki team. HM Plant was great, it was the best I have ever finished in the World Series, I got on the rostrum a fair few times that year, I still didn’t manage to win a race but I had some seconds and thirds, and finished sixth in the world championship. Unfortunately for me, typical Chris Walker luck, I broke my leg in the winter before the season started, so I started the season injured and, just as I was starting to get fit I got knocked off at the first corner in Japan and broke a foot, fell off in the second race and broke the other foot. So just after I was recovering from a broken leg, I had to battle around with two broken feet. So obviously I wasn’t able to train as hard and stuff, I did struggle a little bit and by the end of the year I had really found my form and I was back to myself really… it was just bit too little, bit too late.
Foxy: Have you ever thought about going to AMA like Neil Hodgson?
Chris: I actually tested there before I signed for a British Superbike team, I actually went to America and tested for Arian Racing, which I think they went on to run Curtis Roberts, he was their rider in the AMA Superbike championship. I tested with them and they offered me the ride, but they didn’t do Superbikes then, they raced 600’s and I think it was called Formular Xtreme…
Foxy: Yes, that’s right, they still do that…
Chris: And I really enjoyed it out there and I went and tested at I think it was called the Phoenix Raceway in Arizona and it was really hot, and the track. The people were really nice, but I really wanted to race a Superbike and they were doing everything there but! At the last minute I was going to do it and then I got a phone call from Rob Mack and got the chance to ride for Cadburys Boost so... That was it, I was on a Superbike. It is something I have thought about, but have not actively chased a ride there.
Foxy: Talking about Neil Hodgson, I heard a rumours that he might be returning to WSB nest year. What do you thing about that?
Chris: It would be great, he deserves to be in a world championship, I’m sure he’s enjoyed his time in America and whether he comes back of not. I’m sure the decision he makes will be the right one because he’s a fantastic rider and, if he stays on a Ducati he’ll be instantly at the front, which is where he belongs.
Foxy: This is your second season with PS-G Kawasaki, do you know if you’ll be with them next year?
Chris: No not yet, I mean its tough at the moment in this team, there are three riders and only going to be two riders next year, so the pressures on…
Foxy: Survival of the fittest then…
Chris: Yeah, I got to do a good job and try and be the first man home I guess!
Foxy: The Kawasaki’s have been having problems with the tyres; can you tell me more about that?
Chris: We’ve had a good run on the Pirelli tyres this year really, they’ve definitely worked better for us this year than last year and they’ve stepped the game up this year. They’re using people like Tommy Hill in the British championship and teams in AMA to develop them with and it’s worked really well.
We’ve had some good tyres this year. It was a bit of a shame at Bryno, we went and tested there and had some new tyres and we were second fastest at the test, everything was looking great and we went to the race, and they didn’t bring the tyres along. I mean, it does happen from time to time and it was unfortunate for us.
Foxy: If they let you have them for the test before Bryno, and you didn’t have them for the race, that must have been well frustrating!
Chris: Yeah, it was a bit frustrating but, I’m not the only person who it happened to, so I can’t moan too much… He he...
Foxy: Right, how are you feeling about Sunday’s races here at Brands?
Chris: Yeah, the pressures on, I’m desperate to do a good job, I absolutely love the place… I think if people power could get me across the line, I’d win it by about five laps… I’m really lucky, I always get a lot of support and I enjoy the circuit. The bike today was hard work to get around here and we finished sixth fastest, which was pretty good…
Foxy: Yes, you were top Brit as well…
Chris: Top Brit, which is nice but it would be nicer to be top Brit come Sunday, but we’ve got some work to do. We need to be more consistent, the tracks this year where we have been able to be consistent, we’ve done a really good job and got a good result. The tracks where we have been able to the odd fast lap, come the race, you kind of get seen through and that where we need to do better.
Foxy: Are you confident you can get on the podium?
Chris: I’d like to, yes… But we’ll just have to wait and see.
Foxy: Who do you think will cause you the most problems this weekend?
Chris: Well, Lanconi does well here every time… Also the guys on the Yamaha’s, Suzuki’s and the Ducati’s, they’re always the strongest.
Foxy: What is your ultimate goal in racing?
Chris: Laughs… I would like to get the World title, or the British Champion… Even if it means I’ll be here until I’m 50!!!
Foxy: Good luck this weekend Chris, I hope you do well.
Chris: Thank you…
That concludes my interview with Chris Walker and I can honestly say that you couldn’t meet a nicer guy. He’s unbelievably down to earth and a champion, regardless of whether he wins a title or not.
You can see Chris racing at the next round of WSB at Assen on the 3/4 and 5th of September. You can catch this on ITV in the UK. You can also hear this interview on the current (episode 12)
Podcast. We would like to thank Chris for taking time out of his tight schedule for this interview, and Marco from PS-G Kawasaki for making this possible.
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